In the Darkest Hour
by The-Fanfiction-Princess
Summary: 3 Part MoA Scene Rewrite. Leo is strangely uncomfortable after learning about Sammy Valdez in Hazel's vision. But when Shrimp-Zilla attacks the Argo II, Hazel's in serious trouble, and we all know that Frank won't be of much help. Will Leo be the one to save Hazel's life and earn her trust? With Leo's luck, it's seemingly impossible... Spoilers from Mark of Athena.
1. Chapter 1

Leo blinked. The house was gone. The past was gone. All he saw was Hazel, and the moonlit sky.

He was standing with Hazel on the _Argo II_ again, back in the present. He looked at their entwined hands, and then looked at her.

He _actually_ looked at her, for the first time. He had only ever heard about Hazel's past life, he'd never truly seen it. It made him look at her in a completely different way. Her golden eyes shone with tears.

Everything made sense now. The flashback had put all his speculations to rest.

Leo's great-grandfather was Sammy. He knew the impact Leo would have. He knew he would meet Hazel. It was like he knew Leo could do all the things he had wanted to do, before he died.

Leo's great-grandfather knew all of this, somehow.

Hazel finally met his eyes.

"Hello, Hazel Levesque." Leo said, his voice sounding too low and too scratchy to be his own. She looked up at him with huge, sad, golden eyes. Leo was so mesmerized, their gaze was unbreakable.

Leo almost forgot how to think. He had never known all the horrible tragedies Hazel has been through before now. He heard about them, but he didn't know the heart-wrenching truth. He didn't think he'd ever been so sympathetic for another Demigod before.

He now felt... connected to her somehow. It was strange; the things a demigod can feel; like supernatural connections to another person.

Leo wasn't sure if he liked Hazel. He liked her, but he hadn't decided if he _liked_ her. She was beautiful and cute and adorable. Leo liked everything about her. But every time he thought of the two of them being together, he thought about Frank. Leo didn't know Frank all that well, but they were part of the same team. They were conjoined, almost as brothers, while they were on this quest. But, none the less, it filled Leo's stomach with envy that a dork like Frank got an amazing girl like Hazel, while Leo had nothing.

But this wasn't just about petty jealousies, Leo thought. Hazel and I are intertwined somehow. The crazy flashbacks they had just seen made it clear.

Hazel tried to open her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Leo brought his hand up to her cheek, leaning closer. He wiped some tears off her face with his thumb, without even thinking about it. Hazel leaned into his hand, seeking comfort and security. Leo leaned forward, without knowing what he was doing, until their foreheads were touching. He heard Hazel's breath catch right before—

_BOOM!_

Something huge hit the ship. Hazel and Leo toppled over, after their heads smacked painfully into one another. They went sprawling across the deck.

The sea rumbled with—well, Leo didn't know. He couldn't see it. He knew it was big. He sat up, rubbing his head, still trying to come back to reality.

"Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled, getting Leo's attention. "Get OVER here!"

Leo glanced over at Hazel, who was sitting up shakily. She gave him a brief nod to tell him she was okay. Leo stood up and stumbled to the front of the boat. He clutched the railing and made his way to the control board.

"I think we're in some serious trouble!" Coach yelled over the ocean's racket. Leo shook his head, trying to clear it so he could think straight. He scanned the controls.

"The Sonar!" He gasped. "I forgot to turn it on!"

He ran to the wheel and looked over, trying to locate whatever had hit them. Then it surfaced.

A gigantic shrimp-looking beast breached the water. He couldn't tell if it was more like a catfish or some sort of shellfish. It had millions of legs and things that looked like tentacles coming out of its nostrils. Its tail alone had to be the size of a school bus! The whole sight of it disgusted Leo.

The rest of the demigods staggered to the deck. "What iis/i that?" Piper screeched.

"What the—? SHRIMPZILLA!" Percy shouted, pointing at the beast.

"How did a giant shrimp just sneak up on us?" Jason shouted.

"I'm stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Leo shouted to himself, angrily. "I forgot to switch to Sonar!" He gripped the wheel tightly, trying to steer the ship as safely as possible amid the giant sea creature circling them. The other demigods were yelling, trying to find a way to fight it. But they didn't get very far.

To make matters even worse, the giant tendrils coming from the monstrosity's nose crashed onto the ship, smacking into everything. They thrashed about, bringing panic and alarm with them.

"NOSE-HAIR ATTACK!" Coach Hedge shouted, raising his bat with a battle cry.

One of the nasty looking tentacles grabbed Piper around the ankles and pulled her painfully around the ship. She wailed and grasped at the railing while Jason tried hopelessly to fight them off. Another one smacked into Frank squarely in the chest and he went flying with a big "Oof!"

Hazel wailed, "Frank!"

Leo scanned all the controls frantically, his hands moving at the speed of light, desperately trying to find a way to help his friends. "C'mon Commander Valdez! We need some help!" Percy called while slashing his sword at nearby pink tendrils.

"Leo! Is the _anything_ you and Festus can do?" Jason pleaded over the noise of the fight. "Don't you have, like, a monster laser or a giant sea creature repellent spray?"

This only made Leo more scared. He glanced up at the intercom. "Festus— is there—?" His voice broke under panic. Festus quickly replied. He was trying everything he could, but nothing was working. Leo's stomach flip-flopped. He glanced back at his friends, who were fighting for their lives.

He thought about what Nemesis said, about Leo being the odd one out. Just thinking about it:

"_You will always be the seventh wheel…"_

Just the very phrase, it made a dark cloud of gloom form over his head. After that whole incident, Leo wanted to feel like part of the group more than ever before. Prior to the incident he hadn't really noticed, nor was he bothered by his 'seventh wheel' status.

Now it bothered him. His heart longed to be a part of them really and truly, when everyone trusted him. When they all looked up to _Supreme Commander Leo _and respected him. Right now they probably thought of him as _The guy who steers the ship and makes jokes, _Leo thought dejectedly.

Even _if _they made it out of this, Leo doubted any of them would trust him. The more he thought about it— looking at the chaos— the more his blood ran cold.

He glanced over at Hazel, her eyes met his. They were filled with fright and helplessness. He noticed she looked more panicked than ever. He also noticed the box next to her. An idea hatched in his brain like a light bulb going off.

"Hazel!" He screamed, running towards her. "That crate! Open it!" He pointed. He dashed through the grotesque tentacles. He weaved in and out, jumped under and over, narrowly making his way towards Hazel.

She glanced at the 'WARNING! DO NOT OPEN' sign and her eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"It's okay!" Leo called reassuringly.

He finally got to her and grabbed the bottles she was fumbling with. "What is this?" She yelped, looking at the green liquid inside the vials.

"Greek fire!" Leo said, with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Hazel's face went pale. "This could blow up the whole ship!"

"Or it could blow up a giant shrimp-whale," Leo said with a grin, pressing one of the vials into her hand. "So we just have to—"

"—_Oof!"_

Leo was cut off when the air was knocked out of him. A giant tentacle wrapped around the two of them and they rose into the air. They kept rising, until they were at sickening heights, looking powerlessly at the battle below. "Leo—…I—" Hazel gasped, getting the air squeezed out of her. Leo looked to see her arms pinned while his were still free. Leo wriggled in the grasp, maneuvering so he could see the monsters gigantic mouth.

"Hazel," He glanced over, looking at her seriously. "Do you trust me?"

She searched his eyes for a long moment before blurting out: "No!"

The same playful grin returned to Leo as he said "Me neither." He looked at the ship and then at the monster. The wind at such a high altitude ruffled his black curls.

"When the monster lets go, promise me you'll throw your bottle as far away as possible!" Leo said to Hazel.

"What—Why? Why is it going to drop us?" She yelled to him. Her eyes betrayed the pure fear behind them. Some of Piper's charmspeak would be really useful right about now, Leo noted in his head. I need her to have confidence in me.

"Please!" He said. "You just have to_ trust _me!"

Hazel didn't move a muscle. But she looked up at him with more hope in her eyes than Leo had in his heart. Leo had a lot of pressure on him right about now. He could feel his optimism waning.

But he held strong. He looked at Hazel one last time before carrying out his plan.

"I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Pressing his palm into the pink scaly skin, he willed fire to come. He closed his eyes in focus, until finally; fire erupted from his hand, scorching the creature's flesh. The Shrimp monstrosity wailed in pain. Leo threw his vial of Greek fire as hard as he could, watching it sail into the monster's mouth.

Then the whole world turned into a blur.


	2. Chapter 2

The monster released them and Leo was falling. He watched Hazel fall by his side. The whole scene seemed like it was happening in slow motion.

Hazel threw her bottle while she twisted and flipped in the air, descending fast. The wind rushed past them, and the explosion blew them in even crazier directions. Leo didn't know which way was up anymore. The air was torn out of him as he plummeted faster and faster. No noise could come out of his mouth even if he wanted to scream, it was ripped away by the wind. He tossed and turned in the sky, trying to pin-point Hazel through all the smoke and confusion. He saw her finally— the blast had blown her closer to the ship, but not close enough.

Leo watched in horror as Hazel fell, screaming, towards the metal rail of the boat. He watched helplessly as her head hit it with a sickening _Bam!_ and the screaming was muted. Her limp body smacked the water moments before Leo plunged into its cold darkness.

Black spots dotted his vision. He swayed in the water**,** feeling the weight of the ocean against him. Even though he felt like fainting, he concentrated hard to stop his head from spinning. The water practically immobilized him, but he was stronger than that. He was a son of Hephaestus.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and he could almost think clearly. Leo finally became conscious enough to function and kicked his way to the surface. He spluttered and gasped, breaking the surface.

"Hazel!" He yelled through the noise of the frenzy. His was sight only fueled by the moonlight and the lingering green fire of the explosion. _"Hazel!"_

He swam near the hull of the boat, until he finally saw her, sinking in the black water. Without any thought, he sucked in a deep breath and dove into the frigid cold water. He swam frantically towards Hazel.

Leo could see she was unconscious. Her flaccid body drifted with the rhythm of the waves. He floated near her, watching her big bronze curls in the dark water. They floated around her head like a puffy cloud. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he kicked powerfully towards the surface, maneuvering around the now unconscious Shrimpzilla.

He pulled the limp Hazel towards the ship. "Festus!" He yelled desperately. Festus heard his call and lowered the closest rope ladder to him. He grabbed on, hugging Hazel's unconscious body to him, and Festus pulled up the ladder. He fell onto the deck, laying Hazel down as gently as possible. Her wet curls fell in a halo shape around her head.

Percy, Jason, Annabeth, and Piper all gasped, rushing towards him. When they approached, the demigods were silent. They had never seen the ship's personal comedian look so serious. Just the expression on his face was enough to make all their stomach's plummet.

Piper's eyes were troubled. "Is she-?"

Leo looked grave, but also very determined. He was still trying to catch his breath and recover from the fall. He leaned over Hazel, freezing cold, dripping, and panting hard. He pressed his ear to her heart, and held his breath. "No." Leo said hoarsely, "I can hear her heart."

With that sentence, he turned his back on his friends as if the only people that existed were him and the daughter of Pluto.

"Hazel?" He said, leaning over her lifeless body. His normally curly bush of hair was sopping, pressed to his face, making him seem years older. "Hazel, please! Wake up!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook them. "Wake up! Now!" He'd become scared, scientifically figuring the chances of Hazel actually dying. He tried to remember anything he'd learned in Wilderness School. They had taught them how to survive, right? But his memory was fuzzy, thanks to Hera.

Either way, he was the captain of this ship. He wasn't about to let any member of his crew die.

He remembered fuzzy bits about people who got water in their system. They were blocked, and unable to breathe. Like the kinds of people you see in movies, unconscious, in the water… His frantic engineer brain put random pieces of knowledge together. He didn't know much, but it was better than sitting here and watching her die.

He put both hands on Hazel's chest, and began to push, thumping as heard as he could on her heart. "You are not going to die again, Hazel!" He paused briefly, to put his ear over her mouth.

But no air came out. She still wasn't breathing. He thrust his hands against her chest again, his voice was rising in hysteria. "Do you hear me? Once is enough!"

The lingering green fire illuminated the poor girl's unconscious form. Leo talked while he worked; it made him feel less alone. "Hazel, please! You have to hear me! Listen to me! Remember? I told you to trust me!"

Leo's heart beat loudly in his chest. He was running out of time. Hazel would die soon and it would be his fault. Without a second thought, he sucked in a deep breath and pressed his mouth to Hazel's. His full lips enveloped her smaller ones, and he pressed air into her, willing her to breathe.

He didn't even think immature thoughts about how this is how his first kiss was going to be, like the normal Leo would. It wasn't like that. He was only focused on saving his friend's life. Like a mechanic fixing a machine.

He wasn't saving just any friend either, Leo corrected himself. He had this huge history with Hazel he just learned. This... _connection._ He wasn't about to lose her like his former incarnation. His great-grandfather would probably disown him as a descendent if Leo let her die right now.

He pulled back to breathe. He checked to see if Hazel even had a hint of air circulating through her, to no avail. This time, he'd finally been driven to madness.

"HAZEL! WAKE UP! You're going to LIVE!" Leo screamed into the silent night. "If you don't wake up, I'm going to kill you!" He pounded on her chest, with a fierce determination in his eyes.

The rest of his friends stood and watched in horror. For once, they were not completely positive their friend was going to make it. Annabeth put a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were filled with tears. "Oh gods," She breathed. Piper didn't look much different. A single tear rolled down her cheek. And the boys didn't move to comfort either one of them; they were frozen.

"Hazel, please—" Leo's voice broke. He thrust himself forward onto Hazel's lips, breathing air and life into her lungs. He barely stopped to notice how soft her lips were. They were so unnaturally cold, it filled Leo with panic. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him, pushing all his air out in one last effort.

Then he felt something, under his mouth...It was so faint, he thought it might be an illusion. Did she just breathe _in?_ Their lips parted. Leo gasped for air. He froze, looking at the poor, beautiful girl, knowing if she died in his arms he could quite possibly lose his mind.

Then Hazel's chest heaved. She sucked in too much air and started coughing uncontrollably. She rolled to her side, curling in a ball as the cough wracked her entire body. She wretched, coughing up way too much water. So much water that her friends held their breaths, watching in shock.

Leo, who was still right by her side, rubbed her back. He didn't move an inch until he was sure she had gotten all the water out of her system. Her eyes stayed shut. She lay on the deck, her breathing labored. Normally the kids would all cheer in relief that they had all survived such an attack. But they were all so utterly shocked, they didn't speak a word.

Leo cast his eyes upward to look at his beloved ship. There were pieces of slimy tendrils everywhere, and charred wood from the blast. His 'Spankin' Hot War Machine' was nothing short of destroyed. But all his friends were safe. He could live with his ship a little beat up. Although it might be a while before the Trireme would fly again.

Leo sat back on his knees. He ran a hand through his long, wet curls. He glanced at his other shipmates for the first time since Festus pulled them aboard with a ladder. He stared at their stunned expressions for about a heartbeat. Then his 'Supreme Commander Leo' gears kicked in. "Get some help. Someone should check on Frank and we need to find some medical supplies. _And_ in case you couldn't see, the ship is in bad condition. We're going to have to start fixing it at daybreak so we can get out of here and into the sky." He barked commands, expressionless.

None of the demigods moved. Piper and Annabeth were still trembling. Percy and Jason had eyes that were wider than the full moon that was illuminating them. Each of them stared, dumbfounded, at the dripping wet, Leo and Hazel.

"Guys?!"

"Sorry." Piper said, her voice raspy. They all dispersed. The four heroes shuffled away, leaving Leo there, lost in his own near death experience, as well as Hazel's.


	3. Chapter 3

He sat for a moment, gazing at the stars, still mildly traumatized.

He gently turned Hazel over, so she was facing him. "Hazel?" He said quietly. "Can you hear me?"

Hazel nodded ever so slightly; Leo thought he might have imagined it.

"Hazel?" He said, trying to be as calm and gentle as possible. He couldn't remember the last time he spoke like this. He was always so full of sarcasm and humor and harshness. "Does anywhere hurt? Are you injured anywhere?"

She moaned and rubbed the back of her head. Leo moved her hair out of the way softly, and examined her wound. The rail had not only made a huge bruise at the base of her skull, but it split her skin as well. She must have hit it really hard, Leo thought, surprised Hazel had survived such a fall. Blood seeped slowly from the narrow cut, down Hazel's neck.

Leo knew he had lots of medical supplies in his cabin, but he was afraid of what the other campers might think.

Oh well, he thought dully, this is an emergency. They can handle it. Well, Frank… not so much. Leo grimaced at the thought of Frank, but continued on anyway.

He knelt next to Hazel, and gently picked her up. He had a tough time; he was trying to get her in such a position so her head didn't loll. I don't want her to get, like, brain damage or something, Leo thought with unease.

So eventually he settled with leaning her head against his chest. He hoisted himself up, willing himself to not fall over from exhaustion. He managed to get into a pretty stable position with a soaking wet girl in his arms. So far so good, he thought.

He walked down into his cabin. He laid Hazel down softly on his bed, in the dim light of the lantern. He stepped back, and looked thoughtfully at his work. Then he walked up to the bed again and adjusted her to a more comfortable position. Better.

He went to his desk and shuffled through piles and piles of supplies. He eventually found a clean cloth. He crept out into the hall, and into the bathroom. He got the cloth damp, and went back to his room, unseen.

He sat down next to Hazel. He moved her hair out of the way and gently pressed the cloth to her wound. She didn't stir, she didn't whine. She didn't make a sound. If Leo didn't watch her chest rise and fall, he would've thought she was dead.

Leo took a minute to examine her attractive features. Leo had liked a lot of girls, he would admit that. He called a lot of girls hot. He would admit that too. But he had never thought of any girl as _beautiful._

Hazel was beautiful. Her hair was rich and bouncy. She had pretty facial features that seemed very attractive to Leo. She had a nice, quaint appearance that felt familiar to him. He had never understood that familiarity until tonight. Leo felt like he had found the one he was supposed to be with, or at least some sort of demigod-ly destiny. Now he knew. He knew the reason was Sammy Valdez. He felt the weight of this new discovery of the past on his shoulders now. Just another demigod's messed up history.

He pulled the cloth back and breathed a sigh of relief. The bleeding was slowing down. He pressed against the cut a little longer, until the bleeding stopped altogether. He went to his desk again and rummaged in a drawer. He came back with a soft bandage. He applied the bandage to Hazel's cut as carefully as he could, ensuring it was secure. Then he moved Hazel's hair back into place.

He sat there uncomfortably for a while, with the sleeping (or possibly unconscious) Hazel Levesque beside him.

He knew that the other demigods would be going to bed soon. Everyone was tired.

Including Leo.

He didn't want to take Hazel and move her into her own cabin because 1: he didn't want to move her head injury around too much and 2: The other demigods could see that he had Hazel with him in his cabin. Not that they wouldn't want Leo to take care of Hazel, but Leo would just feel really awkward if he ran into Frank in the hall in the middle of the night with Hazel in his arms.

Leo sat on the bed, brainstorming scenarios. His bed was pretty big. With Hazel lying on the side, Leo had more than enough room to lie on the other side of his bed. The more he tried to think, the more he became aware of his exhaustion. The attack had drained him of all energy, and he just wanted to collapse.

So he gave up. He lay down slowly, his heart beating rapidly at the close-proximity situation. He lay there like a stick, feeling uncomfortable with Hazel right next to him. But at the same time he felt… Right. He felt like he was safe and secure when he was with Hazel. He wished he knew more about Sammy Valdez, and his history with Hazel. Trying to think about it just made his mind whir and spin.

Leo gradually relaxed. Lost in thought, he twiddled his thumbs, staring at the ceiling. Eventually, his eyelids grew heavy. He was about to drift off into sleep, when Hazel stirred.

She rolled towards him, and grabbed onto his shirt. She pulled him to her, with no conscious knowledge of what she was doing. Hazel held onto the front of his shirt and nestled into his chest, still sleeping soundly.

"Wha—?" Leo's mouth fell agape and his eyebrows shot toward the ceiling. He gasped at how cold she was. She was still freezing, but less damp, from the earlier epidemic. Leo's heart beat rapidly against her now-steady beat. She was so stony cold, all he wanted to do was make her warm again. But the wrongness of the event stopped him.

But, out of tiredness and just unwillingness to care about Frank's feelings, he soon gave in to her.

He wrapped his arms around her cold body. It contrasted nicely with Leo's always warm skin. He curled around her, formfitting to her smaller form. They fit together perfectly, like to pieces of a puzzle.

Hazel murmured in her slumber, curling even closer to Leo. She balled his shirt up in her little fist. "Hmmm… You're so warm." She said to his chest.

Leo felt his cheeks grow warm. He wasn't sure if he should reply to a sleep talking girl or just stay silent. "Um… Thanks?" He said. He felt awkward talking to someone who was asleep.

Even though he felt very discomfited, he was about to mention that his dad was the god of fire. But she stopped him with a single sentence, spoken in the silence of night.

"I love you Sammy."

He heard his heart shatter.

He felt his smile fade.

She wasn't even talking to him. She was dreaming of Sammy.

Leo let this sink in.

His demigod brain was torn between being angry at Hazel for not loving him, for not flattering _him_ with her half-conscious compliments, and feeling sorry for her. It made him sort of… Sad. Leo was so much like Sammy. She was hallucinating that Leo actually _was_ Sammy, like they were one— almost. That's sort of what it felt like. Leo felt like the gods were playing some cruel trick on him, making him think a girl actually liked him. He thought he had finally found a purpose, a meaning to his life. But it was really Sammy, Sammy was the reason he had found meaning to his life.

But, he didn't care at this point. He, Hazel, and the rest of the crew were safe. He would figure out all this 'Sammy Valdez' stuff later. He would worry about what Frank's going to say in the morning. He would sort out his feelings for Hazel later. Not to mention she's probably going to be a little confused tomorrow. He didn't want to think about the history between them. He didn't want to think about the future either.

Right now, all that mattered was that they were safe and together.

He brushed her hair away and gently kissed her forehead.

"I love you too, Hazel."


End file.
